etrailer | Checking Out the Thule Motion 3 Low Profile Rooftop Cargo Box

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-review-th...
Hi everyone, Aidan here with etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at the Thule Motion 3 low profile roof box. This is gonna be one of their larger sizes offering 18 cubic feet of storage space while still maintaining a lower profile so you're not adding near as much height to your vehicle. A low profile box like this is a great option if you're primarily carrying things like skis and snowboards. That's what a lot of these are designed for because those items tend to be a lot longer and not nearly as tall as things like duffel bags and suitcases would be. So why add the height to your vehicle if you really don't need it That space is gonna be better spent by creating a longer box for those longer items.

Now, that's not to say that this can't haul other things. There's still a good amount of height in there to work with if you have some small bags. But if you plan on taking this on a family road trip and loading primarily camping gear and luggage and things like that in here, you just might find better luck with a taller box and not the low profile one. Let's open this up and take a look inside. There's gonna be a lock and you get two keys with it, so you can just pop that in there and twist it to the unlocked position and then squeeze this latch right here to open the lid.

This mechanism is really nice. I'm a big fan of that because it's easy to operate and we can push the lid open from there. I have noticed a little bit of sticking with the lid, but you don't want it to just fly open. That's a pretty solid fit and it's gonna keep things in there protected from the elements when you're driving, and those hinges will just kind of take the wheels after you push it up a bit and hold the lid open for you. But as you can see, just from the ground, we've got a good amount of stuff in here.

Like I mentioned, just because it's low profile doesn't mean we can't fit some bags in there. We've got everything tied down right now, but there's still a good amount of height to work with. And to be a bit more specific with your interior measurements of actual usable space, front to back, you're working with 86 and a half inches. Side to side, you're working with 30 inches and from bottom to top, once the lid close, that's gonna be 11 and 11 sixteens of an inch. So overall really good.

Like I said, it's just a big box in general, even though it is low profile, you're left with a lot of usable space and for your maximum ski length, you're gonna be working with 215 centimeters. And up in the box we have three tie-down straps that are included. Just basic little cam buckles that will help secure your cargo down and keep it from shifting around as much when you're driving around. And there's integrated tie-down points on the floor of the roof box right by some of the tie-down clamps. So really nice that you've got those spots integrated. And then those clamps are gonna be really easy to operate too. Just a simple hand knob to loosen or tighten. And they're pretty low profile too, so they don't take up valuable cargo space. Once you have it all the way loosened up, you can remove it just by unclipping the clamp from the surrounding protective covers and get a better look at what that mechanism looks like, grabbing around even smaller crossbars like some factory bars you might have. So I like this design quite a bit and that track that it slides in, you'll notice there's a lot of front to back movement, so we can adjust this to different crossbar spreads and meet the vehicle where it's at. And then once it's fully tightened down, those handles will have a built-in torque device so they'll give you a click letting you know that they are properly tightened and you're safe to drive. And I did want to give one look with just some pairs of skis in here to give a frame of reference. Our longest pair closest to me is 160 centimeters, so plenty of room to spare and plenty of room to line these up side by side, especially if you offset the bindings without ever having to stack them on top of one another. The other thing is the raised sections that they'll sit on, it's gonna keep any melted snow or just any water out of the things you put in here. They'll drain to these low points and your gear will remain elevated out of it. When you go to close the box, you probably noticed by now this gray strap that's hanging from the lid, that's to help you pull the lid down to you and give you a better handhold to grab by the actu